U.S. forces are taking to collective punishment
of civilians in several cities across the al-Anabar province west of Baghdad,
residents and officials say.

"Ramadi, the capital of al-Anbar province, is
still living with the daily terror of its people getting killed by snipers
and its infrastructure being destroyed," Ahmad, a local doctor who
withheld his last name for security purposes told IPS. "This city has
been facing the worst of the American terror and destruction for more than
two years now, and the world is silent."

Destroying infrastructure and cutting water and electricity
"for days and even weeks is routine reaction to the resistance,"
he said. "Guys of the resistance do not need water and electricity,
it's the families that are being harmed, and their lives which are at stake."

Students and professors at the University of al-Anbar
told IPS that their campus is under frequent attack.

"Nearly every week we face raids by the Americans
or their Iraqi colleagues," a professor speaking on condition of anonymity
told IPS. Students said that U.S. troops occupied their school last week..

"We've been under great pressure from the Americans
since the very first days of their occupation of Iraq," a student told
IPS.

Such raids are being reported all over Ramadi. "The
infrastructure destruction is huge around the governorate building in downtown
Ramadi," said a 24-year-old student who gave his name as Ali al-Ani.
"And they are destroying the market too."

IPS reported Sep. 5 that the U.S. military was bulldozing
entire blocks of buildings near the governorate to dampen resistance attacks
on government offices.

Such U.S. action seems most severe in al-Anabar province,
where resistance is strongest, and which has seen the highest U.S. casualties.

The city of Hit 80km west of Ramadi was surrounded
by U.S. troops for several days earlier this week. Several civilians were
killed and at least five were detained by U.S. forces. Checkpoints are in
place at each entrance to the city after the U.S. military lifted the cordon
around it. This has stifled movement and damaged local businesses.

"There was an attack on a U.S. convoy, and three
vehicles were destroyed," a local tribal chief who gave his name as
Nawaf told IPS. "It wasn't the civilians who did it, but they are the
ones punished. These Americans have the bad habit of cutting all of the
essential services after every attack. They said they came to liberate us,
but look at the slow death they are giving us every day."

In Haditha, a city of 75,000 on the banks of the Euphrates
River in western al-Anbar, collective punishment is ongoing, residents say.
This was the site of the massacre of 24 civilians by U.S. marines in November
2005.

"The Americans continue to raid our houses and
threaten us with more violence," a local tribal leader who gave his
name as Abu Juma'a told IPS. "But if they think they will make us kneel
by these criminal acts, they are wrong. If they increase the pressure, the
resistance will increase the reaction. We see this pattern repeated so often
now."

Abu Juma'a added: "I pray that the Americans return
to their senses before they lose everything in the Iraqi fire."

In Fallujah, local police say residents have turned
against them due to the collective punishment tactics used by U.S. forces.

"The Americans started pushing us to fight the
resistance despite our contracts that clearly assigned us the duties of
civil protection against normal crimes such as theft and tribal quarrels,"
a police lieutenant told IPS. "Now 90 percent of the force has decided
to quit rather than kill our brothers or get killed by them for the wishes
of the Americans."

At least one U.S. vehicle is reported destroyed every
day on average in the face of mounting U.S. raids and a daily curfew. The
scene is one of destruction of the city, not rebuilding.

"Infrastructure rebuilding is just a joke that
nobody laughs at," Fayiq al-Dilaimy, an engineer in Fallujah told IPS.
He was on the rebuilding committee set up after the November 2004 U.S.-led
operation which destroyed approximately 75 percent of the city..

"People of this city could rebuild their city
in six months if given a real chance. Now look at it and how sorrowful it
looks under the boots of the 'liberators'."

Many of the smaller towns have been badly hit. "Khaldiyah
(near Fallujah) and the area around it have faced the worst collective punishments
for over two years now," said a government official in Ramadi. "But
of course most cities in al-Anbar are being constantly punished by the Americans."

Samarra and Dhululiyah towns, both north of Baghdad,
have also been facing collective punishment from the U.S. military, according
to residents.

"Curfews and concrete walls are permanent in both
cities, which makes life impossible," Ali al-Bazi, a lawyer who lives
in Dhululiyah and works in Samarra told IPS. "There are so many killings
by American snipers. So many families have lost loved ones trying to visit
relatives or even just stepping outside of their house."

While Baghdad is not in al-Anbar province, occupation
forces have used similar tactics there. In January 2005 IPS reported that
the military used bulldozers to level palm groves, cut electricity, destroy
a fuel station and block access roads in response to attacks from resistance
fighters.

A U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad did not comment
on specific cases, but told IPS that the U.S. military "does its best
to protect civilians from the terrorists."